It's Impossible to say Which one is Which...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfK-WX2pa8c

2017 is fast becoming a very challenging year for Britain, I can only sit and shake my head as I watch so many people experiencing such unnecessary horrors, and feel kind of grateful that my kids are growing up in a place where such spiteful twists of fate are practically unknown. 

I have nothing but sympathy for so many who are having misfortune piled onto them. 

Whether these horrors are down to brainwashed fanatics, or money-obsessed politicians is really becoming a very real question for me. 

Because behind every one of these misfortunes it appears that someone, somewhere who was looking out for No. 1 and who clearly doesn't care about the impact to their actions on others, is culpable.

"No question now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs. The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which." (George Orwell)



Written with deep sympathy to all affected.

Hampden Jamden

Last night was a milestone day in Hampden, Otago. The inaugural meeting of the ;Jamden’ took place. Riz and Rick and myself spent three solid hours playing our guitars and drums from a diverse catalogue of songs

We gathered in the deep winter dark at the Presbyterian Hall,  and played some music on guitars. Live. Tentatively at first, but with burgeoning confidence as the evening sore on.

The point of Jamden is to provide a community forum for local people to make their music and share their ideas. This is a ‘muso’ free zone though. In that, I mean the brief we described to each other was a ‘softly-softly’ approach.

We will gather more members by approaching individuals and teaching them a secret handshake or something, and then sit in on fortnightly jam-sessions, with special guest appearances by local luminaries and musical talents.

So, watch this space, I guess.

The Soundcase Debut Thing

Rather excited today. I have my first Soundcase workshop to deliver.

Today I will be taking my 'Soundcase' (which is a battered suitcase full of various objects which may make noise) my mikes, a few instruments and a laptop, and creating from scratch a soundtrack.

My clients will be individuals with intellectual handicaps. This means that rock'n'roll is turning another corner folks!

i m so pleased and proud to be able to do something like this. Going forward, I'll be taking 'Soundcase' to schools, and to other similar venues. I aim to set up a page in which the creations and compositions can be heard.

So Listen this Space. . . .

Let's Hear it For Satan!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBecM3CQVD8

So it’s back to the question about music. 

What is it about music that allows certain people to feel entitled to attack those who participate?

The recent atrocity in Manchester serves again, to illustrate that there is something about music that just upsets certain kinds of mentality. And that mentality is a sick one.

The notion being, that to enjoy music is a blasphemy of some kind. 

To be young and enjoy music is proof that you are being brainwashed by Satan.

But to be young, female and enjoy music means that you are offensive to the one who created the universe.

So to put it in perspective, the one who made the universe made it possible to make music, created music, and provided us with the ability to play, move and listen to music. 

But only certain types of music?

Because if you listen to the wrong type, then clearly, it proves that you are Satan’s slave, and someone who appears to have a hotline to the Creator of the universe, might take it upon themselves to blow you to pieces.

The irony being, they do Satan's work, in the name of someone else.

Is Rock'n'Roll Suicide?

The recent suicide of Chris Cornell was an unpleasant jolt to the system. One can only imagine how his relatives and wife must be feeling. Fifty-two is too young to die.  

His wife has publically blamed the legally prescribed drugs he was taking. The medication. It was more than that. A potent cocktail of medication and psychosis may  have contributed to convince him that ending his life was the most meaningful way he could underpin any meaning he ascribed to his life and his art.

Recently, Tom Larkin of Shihad  pointed out that musicians tend to die on average at the age of fifty-seven.

A mixture of factors contributing to this; from alternative life-style choices the lack of ‘meaningful’ employment they appear to get, want, or need, and of course, temperament.

So what is up with these people? Are they musicians because they are misfits, or are they misfits because they are musicians?

Yes to both.

The generality tolerates musicians with bemused condescension, and the musician tends to return the favour. Which is kind of strange isn’t it? What is it about the latent power of music to turn people’s heads that encourages some to view musicians as some kind of oddity?

And what is it about musicians that causes them to feel isolated, alienated or else-wise, causes them to appear to relish being seen as isolated or alienated?

Is their impulse to create music a symptom of some kind of inner malaise or does the fact that they make music cause people to look at them as if there is something wrong with them?

Do musicians die younger, in general, than others who appear to have opted for a mainstream kind of life? 

And if so, why?

Written with deepest sympathy to his family.

Is Facebook Killing Music?

It sounds counterintuitive doesn't it - I mean any cursory glance of Facebook will reveal a rich harvest  of links, postings and interesting stories about music.

And cats, and kids falling from trampolines, and what we did on our holidays, and a photo of our kid's latest school project, and pictures of people who have nothing better to do than take selfies, and articles about elections, and 'hit likes' for special interest groups, and pictures of vegetables that look slightly erotic (ok, I made the last one up) but you get my drift.

Because the clue was in the term 'cursory glance'.

My points that we may feel that Facebook is a great way to 'reach people' but that is all it does. In the same way a fallen mountaineer might 'reach' people as they continue to make their clime to this summit, or get the heck off the mountain because there's a storm coming. No one stops, puts out a hand and spends a moment with the said fallen dude. Everyday life is too precise for that.

So what Facebook conditions us to do rather, is to scan rapidly, share the odd link that we feel 'says something' about us, make the odd crack and then get on towards the peak or towards basecamp.

In the olden days. (i.e. the eighties) I heard a statistic.  It indicated that in general an album was listened to on average one and half times before it was returned to the sleeve, never to be heard again. And that was in the days when listening to a record was a physical act; you had to commit to putting a record not the turntable.

Nowadays (as has been remarked to me) you can 'discover' an artist who is now retired, download the twelve albums he made over his career in less than a minute, listen to about fifteen seconds of his or her output and never give it a second thought.

So, if you are working in a medium which requires anyone with the greater attention-span of a goldfish to 'appreciate' it, maybe Facebook isn't the way to do it...

Just saying' ....

Just Like and Share... It's not Rocket Surgery...

It's New Zealand music month. I'm kinda torn about this. I can't help but feel that 'music' as I loved it, is 'dead'. The Music Month is like a funeral procession for a dead industry. You know, people trying sooo hard to be relevant, or the 'next thing', when deep inside, we all know that the world is totally over musicians.

Above: An Old Musician, Yesterday. (photo: Ahmet Our, Megapixelstock, with thanks)

Don't get me wrong, the world wants music, but they only appear to want it pre-digested like baby-food, spoon fed by photogenic robots who are considered 'celebrities', for some odd reason.

I went into a protracted rant (now deleted) but instead, have decided to just cut to the chase. If you like music. You know actually like music. Will you do something for me and any other musician who sends you their stuff?

Just Listen to it for just a minute, and  (Now pay attention): whether you like what you hear or don't; 'Like' and 'Share' the link with one other person?

Just Like and Share. It's not rocket Surgery....

https://www.facebook.com/RadioNZMusic/?hc_ref=NEWSFEED&fref=nf

Why? because home-music is under attack from the processed-pap industry just like the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker has been driven out of business by supermarkets.

If each person were to frequent a local shop once a week, it would mean that said local shop might be able to stay in business. If each person were to share home-made music once, it might make a small difference to the next generation of musician.

The Proteus EP

https://clark2.bandcamp.com/album/clark-the-proteus-ep

The Proteus EP is an offshoot of the ‘Dead Trees’ Album released in 2016.

The EP consists of three songs from the album: The title track, ‘Proteus’ ‘Honeymoon Pt. 1’ and “Sweetheart’ .

The title track is a metaphorical description of doomed love, using the life of John Merrick (The ‘Elephant Man’) as a first person describer of his own sad fate.

In it, Merrick describes his feelings for a young widow he met, who treated him civilly. So unused to this was Merrick, that he broke down in tears.

Later he wrote her a letter which still exists, signing it ‘Yours Truly’. 

Merrick’s tragically short life (One of the ‘27’ club) was marred by terrible episodes, but also encouraged by great generosity. 

In the song, I write ‘On the stuff of humanity, I could never rely.’ 

Perhaps he may have felt that way, on some occasions. He certainly endured some cruel ad unjust treatment’ during his tragically limited time on earth.

Newsflash: Vanity Dog to 'make' a record!

The recent discussion about whether vinyl is 'better' has a strange synchronicity about it, as Vanity Dog have been discussing 'making a record' for ages.  Recently I read that Jack White of the White Stripes has reopened a record pressing plant in Detroit. to great acclaim. I have made an executive judgement that a band with Vanity Dog's fan-base of about three would be barking up the wrong tree by entering into negotiations with the Detroit Plant.

However, the is an alternative, closer to home. You see, a couple of years ago, we discussed making a record and our research unearthed this gentleman.

http://peterkinglathecutrecords.co.nz/history.htm  Yes, Peter King literally 'makes' records. Based in Geraldine, which is in the South Island of Otago.

Talking about an upcoming Vanity Dog project, we decided it would be so very cool to have a vinyl pressing of one of our singles. and so we will put together an EP, and then commission Peter King to make it.

We have a couple of tracks already for this puppy: 'SIX'  &  'Candlestick Park'

https://vanitydog.bandcamp.com/track/six

https://vanitydog.bandcamp.com/track/candlestick-park

... and we will write two more cracking songs for it to make it one of our our traditional 'four-track' EP.

Is Vinyl Better than other Formats?

Redshark News.com has this article:

https://www.redsharknews.com/technology/item/4584-vinyl-isn-t-better-than-digital-but-that-doesn-t-stop-people-trying-and-failing-to-prove-that-it-is

My response was:

"I'm under no illusions that it it better, but I really enjoy taking record out of its sleeve, putting on the turntable and listening to it 'warts and all', The human ear is a very clever device, it can enjoy just about anything, I will say this though, modern recordings, autotuned, quantised and comprised actually cause me to experience stress when I listen to them. Can anyone tell me why?"

So I'm not out prove one is 'better' than the other, but I can tell you how some things make me feel...

and you know, I stumbled on something. I was wondering what it is about so much modern recording that  is affecting me on a neurological level?. I thought I was just getting - you know - 'older'. But when I think about it, modern recordings, with their souls sound-byte mentality, their inane often self-centred sentiments and the 'perfect' processed sounds, rhythms, and autotuned vocals do actually stress my brain.

So thanks to Redshark for awakening me tooth's fact. I'm going to my shed and I'm going to put The Who's 'Big, Meaty, Bouncy and Beaty' on the turntable and actually enjoy some music while I relax my tired brain...

An Album is for Life. . .

Talking with my good buddy Andrew he told me that modern artists don't even call their releases 'albums' any more; now they call them 'playlists'. When I put together a collection of songs and release them at the same time, I call it and 'album'. For me, an 'album' has a sort of integrity and a structure both melodically and in theme and narrative.

So anyway the family did something rather irresponsible last weekend. They left me on my own.

I suspect they thought they'd find me with the cats feeding off me when they returned but no! Within an hour I had the 'studio' set up in the living room near a warm fire, and some brandy and a track list of songs to demo for a new album.

I decided I'd do this album differently to the last one (which was a collection of songs already in existence).  For this Album I wanted to use new compositions and break them in from scratch.
So I managed to put out twelve demo versions of songs for the album. and as promised I'll include one here.

https://soundcloud.com/clarksongznz/2020-visions-1-mp3shiloh-tasterblog


The song I have put on here is just an acoustic guitar and vocal with a basic drum-track to keep count. It's called 'Elevator'.

Then I went to the beach and did a 'video' but the android knocked the sound and vision out of sync, so I'll have another go at that this week.

Do We Dream Music?

I'd say yes. Some people compose music and claim thy have no idea where th music came from. They see themselves more as receptors of sounds that just happen to be in the atmosphere - they are just attuned to these sounds and they pick up on them.

Obviously for copyright purposes, we 'claim' these magical visitations as our own. I mean, a man's gotta eat, after all.

I have often dreamed songs and then melody has been in my head when I awake, and I've scrabbled around for a pen or a tape-recorder (yes, I am that old school) before I lost the vibe. Sometimes I get it down, sometimes I don't Here's one that just 'came to me' in a dream:

https://clark2.bandcamp.com/track/so-disappear


and here's a picture of the kids. I was going for 'surreal' but actually couldn't be bothered to get all involved about it:

So it's a bit surreal, but actually not. Come to think of it I'm not sure if I dreamed it either....

Did you Ever get a Creative Block?

A great novelist once remarked that o write you need beeswax, a stool, a desk, some paper and a pen. "The beeswax" he said: "...is to stick your arse to the stool." Who would have thought the Victorians could be so crude!
But there is a grain of truth to this advice. I'm constantly working to refine and get better at what I do, and constantly thinking about what I do, musically and in other areas of life. So I can argue (snd do) that even when I don't have a guitar or pen in my hand I'm still 'creating'. Because it isn't just about 'producing' goods. Creativity is about thinking creatively, considering what you do, relating to other creative types, making decisions scribbling down ideas, seeing the world in a certain way.

The 'Inspiration Fairy' will visit, but, as Picasso said, if that visit is going to be any use to you, it has to find your work when it arrives. Otherwise, it will fly through you window, look at you sitting around and do a 180.

Here's a story:

The  would be artist lived his life waiting for inspiration. A musician visited and he said "Go away, I'm waiting for the Inspiration Fairy!"
A teacher came to visit and he said: "Go away,!I'm waiting for The Inspiration Fairy!"
A seller of art equipment  came to visit and he said: Go away, I'm waiting for The Inspiration Fairy!"
Eventually he gave up and died, unhappy because he didn't;t have a single work to show for his desire and ambition.
He saw The Inspiration Fairy, who he held responsible for creativity at the gates of Heaven. and complained:
"Why didn't you help me, you useless lump of fairydom?"
"What do yo mean, said the Fairy? I sent you a musician, a teacher and a peddler....  If you didn't produce anything you've only got yourself to blame!"

Has it Really Been That Long Since I last Posted

I mean February and it's getting on for May I have been sleep at the wheel. Where does the time go? Well let's backtrack and have a little think. I've been on a retreat, called: "The Clark Creative Workshop and Life-Skills Think-Tank and Totally Self-enforced Re-Evaluative Micro-Examination of sorts." Or "CCWLSTTTSEREMES")

I'm still working on the title.

It involved a lot of thinking about Creativity. How it works on us, and how we work it. In particular, I have been thinking about creative blocks.

Like writer's block only, well for Creative types everywhere. It has so many links to other emotional or mental malaises, such as 'Overwhelm' and 'Procrastination' but really how Creativity - or at least the desire to be Creative is under siege from so many different suppressing impulses and ideas.

The good news is I have begun to put together a workshop for Creative people in my locality, and am designing an online programme and face-to-face experience for whole to attend. I even;t set a date, or got a venue, but hey,I'm creative, right? I'll get something done. So if you are reading this after my rather long hiatus, welcome back and watch this space.

In the meantime, here is a link to the last Vanity Dog release in which my advice to Creative people and people who scorn Creativity alike is: "Let it go."

https://vanitydog.bandcamp.com/album/houndesque-ep

In the meantime, I'm busily working on the next Van Dog demos and of course, the pilot tracks for my next Album which is under the working title of:

"If She Floats, She Must Be A Witch"

It's a homage to the women in my life.

Nah, only kidding'.

Why Working with Others is So Great

Been very privileged this week to work with a splendid range of new and interesting people.

The thing is, I've worked solo especially on music for so long, it becomes easy to forget how useful and necessary it is to work with others. So imagine how pleasant it was to work as 'sidekick' in an established music college, assisting others with songwriting skills. A big part of it involved promoting confidence. Not only promoting the sense of confidence one has in one's own musical abilities, but a sense of confidence to share their ideas. and then a sense of confidence to  perform those ideas.

Being a musician is not easy. However, what 'the public' see and imagine is 'hardest' is in fact what comes most naturally to a musician. Because for musicians and performers, having to practice and get their craft 'right' is what makes them get up in the morning. Working on riffs, dreaming up lyrics, processing thoughts, structuring and organising songs into verse, chorus middle eight and then finding the right key, melody, tempo and rhythm, these are the real treats in a musician's life.

Sharing, collaborating, performing - often not so much. We know that every so often the so-called 'born performer' comes along. But trust me, they are only that good because they worked at their craft behind the scenes. Doing the 'easy' stuff because it was what they most enjoy doing.

So, when I get an opportunity to work with musicians, and promote their sense of confidence, to share ideas, make them feel at home in their skins, and to see the positive results that emerge when they are able to develop those neural pathways and realise 'I can do this'. That is an incredibly rewarding experience. I fell I've fostered a safe space for growth and development, provided a structured example of how to do this, and have left people with a tangible result -real evidence of their abilities.

Sneak Preview of Afficianado Of The Club Nostalgia

Lets see it this will work: It's a rough version of track 2 of the new Vanity Dog single



https://soundcloud.com/clarksongznz/afficianado-1-ruff


This is kinda mixed, but still a bit rough...

Dedicated to the more mature musicians amongst us...

On getting old and playing Geetar...

I'm busily working on a song at the moment. It is Ray Davis-inspired a tragicomic look at t.he - shall we say the 'ageing' musician.

I imagine the pleading and distress of their loved ones and spouses:

Let it go. You've gone too far.
In the name of humanity, 
Put down that guitar....

When I was in band (did I tell you I was in a band?, oh well, more of that later...). I recall John the Bassist saying: "I hope I never end up being one of those old geysers who keeps telling young people 'I used to be in a band'".

And it occurred to me that I have become that old geyser!

Anyway, last year I started working on a song who I thought was too uncool to play to anyone, so I kept it for my personal amusement. I mean how can I claim to be New Zealand's answer to Radiohead with tripe like "An Afficionado of the Club Nostalgia' ?... and now? Well one of the benefits of getting  'older' is that you end up not giving a rat's ass.

It is incredibly liberating not having to be 'cool'.

When I was younger, so much younger than today, I'd write a song and if you didn't like it well it was your problem. Then I matured and got all angsty and involved and meticulous about my 'craft'. 

Now I'm back to square one.

So anyway should there be an age-bar on 'Rock'? I know, I know The Rolling Stones and all that. But Mick is still pretending he's in his forties when he should know better, so I think it is better for the youth of the world, (especially the females) if he's kept off-tour. But then Johnny Cash kept on till the end, and I reckon some of his finest stuff came from that later era.

In fact Johnny Cash was a living monument to the virtues of just hanging on in there and keeping on doing what you love to do:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVRtoU5-A_M

Bowie and mic-craft

I love this little known tune by the late lamented David Bowie.

It's like 'What would happen if you put Marc Bolan and Iggy Pop in a room and got Bowie to write down the result?"

But I could be wrong.

But what I really dig about this video is how Bowie use a common or garden SM58 microphone, live.

Observe, gentle reader as David Bowie sings into the microphone, moving in close, and backing away as he sings louder, in order to save the sound-mixing guy a living nightmare of playing around with the volume fader. A real craftsman at work...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsYp9q3QNaQ

The Prophet Hens Album out now...

The Prophet Hens are perched to achieve legendary indie-status as they lay another golden egg in the "Dunedin Sound' nest, with 'The Wonderful shape of backdoor Keys' issued on fishriderrecords.c.

I especially enjoyed: Basically, (Track 3), and the rock-steady drums and guitar in Track 11: D Modal, which really soared as a post-indie workout.

According to the Prophet Hens themselves, they are:

... melodic jangling guitars, fairground organs & voices singing about hope & despair, joy & regret, ambition & reality, coming together & drifting apart.

I got essences of kitchen-sink drama, what has been called “psychédélisme plaintif”  (Les Inrockuptibles,) shortly observational sardonic reportage about well, life. There is more than just jangly guitar action here; the songs are well crafted and structured with great use of male and female vocals (Penelope Esplin and Karl Bray ) each deliver with a dead-pan sense of integrity, it would take someone like me years to cultivate... :o)

Anyway reader, do have a listen..

Don't Confuse me with Taylor Swift... I really mean it this time...

Ok, I'll admit it SOMETIMES I DON'T SING IN TUNE. Yeah, I said it. 

I feel that modern audiences are being conditioned to not know what singing in tune actually sounds like courtesy of 'AUTOTUNE'. 

If you want to know about this commonly used device and consider artists who have used it see: http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/27/3964406/seduced-by-perfect-pitch-how-auto-tune-conquered-pop-music

I have no issue with the mere existence of AUTOTUNE. It's a tool, like any other, and if people want to use it, then fine and dandy. I've even noted young performers are unknowingly teaching themselves to 'warble' their voices to replicate the auto tuning they unconsciously register on their idols' voices.

However, if AUTOTUNE is overly used, there is a hazard that when people really hear you sing, well - you know the rest.

Personally, I like to hear 'real' vocals, and history will be the judge of how 'good' a singer is. In fact, being able to make contact with people on an emotional level is one of the defining qualities of a great vocalist. 

Did Elvis Presley, Nat Cole, Etta James, Aretha Franklin, The Beatles, Morrissey, Ray Charles, Dylan, Stevie Wonder, John Foggerty, Anita O'Day, Billie Holiday, or any of the greats, use autotune? Of course not, but they are still great to listen to, perhaps as much for their flaws as for their messages.

But lately, I'm thinking more and more about the pressure on young musicians to sing 'perfectly'. AUTOTUNE can be like an aural equivalent of photoshopping a model's body to make it more 'perfect'. This is accompanied by a spate of young women hating on themselves, because they are being pitched an ideal they can't possibly match.

Spoiler: I really like Taylor Swift so don't think I'm accusing her of anything 'bad'. But I find it ironic that she issues a single called 'Shake it Off' and video which is cute and self-deprecating, but has thrown every electronic trick in the book at the production of a 'flawless' performance. But it's just what happens when songwriting is reduced to becoming 'product' designed to shift 'units'.

From the viewpoint of a guy who makes music in a converted barn (and trust me, it does look like an actual barn, not one of those tastefully renovated versions) making music with glitches in it is part of the pleasure, and serves to establish another reason for people not to confuse me with Taylor Swift.   (Heh, like I need another one....)

You gotta love yourself - don't say it like it's a Bad Thing...

Spoke to a friend today, and she pointed out that if one performs to the best of one’s ability people will accuse her of ‘loving herself’ but if she is unanimated and introverted, people will accuse her of not being a 'real performer'. 

So you are stuck with one of two negative judgments.

I’ve mentioned this before. If you decide to take up stamp-collecting (Philately will get you anywhere), the world and his wife does not expect you to justify why you like to do that. They don’t get together over a drink and unload their negative stuff all over your dreams of stamp-collecting.

Unless they have mean spirits.

But here’s a thought. Why not completely disregard the negativity that other people appear too willing to unload, and just enjoy what you do, simply because you do, and have every right to do so.

Besides, what is wrong with loving oneself? It is only people who are insecure who confuse that with vanity or pride.

Surely if you are comfortable with your own needs and your own ways of enjoying yourself to the fullest on this oh-too-brief journey we call life, you are entitled to do so.

Just Let it Go – you know, the tendency that some musicians have to feel you have to somehow justify themselves to others.

Enjoy the gift you have been given.